Used boats can win…

Competitive racing at major inshore and offshore events is now more affordable than it has ever been, as Sea Ventures’ Nigel Colley explains. You don’t need a professional crew, nor a brand new boat to succeed

You don’t need a new boat to compete and you don’t need professionals on board to succeed,’ says Sea Ventures’ Nigel Colley. ‘That’s not to say that the latter is a hard and fast rule, of course it’s not, but hiring top sailors is not the only way to get results, competent amateur sailors that are committed to regular practice can get into the chocolates too.’

Advocating used boats over new is perhaps not something you’d expect the managing director of yacht dealers Sea Ventures (UK) Ltd to be doing. But Colley is also a keen and experienced shorthanded sailor and has spent many years helping to encourage and drive the shorthanded scene in the UK. His views come very much from his close involvement at water level. Indeed, his enthusiasm for this side of the racing scene is in part what has been behind the success of a number of Jeanneau’s Sun Fast range. Most recently the Sun Fast 3300 has been ever present at the top end of race results since the model was launched back in 2019.

On top of that, Sea Ventures has a successful brokerage business too and helps those that are not looking for a new boat to get into the scene. It also helps to provide a fuller picture of the racing scene as a whole which in turn helps find the best range of options for owners.

While the 3300 has been one of Jeanneau’s biggest successes in this area, the Sun Fast range has a long history in shorthanded racing and it is this that Colley believes is one of the factors that is making competitive racing at major events more affordable than it’s been for many years.

The Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 has enjoyed a remarkable run of successes in doublehanded racing since its launch in 2019

‘The obvious focus right now is still on the 3300, especially with Red Ruby winning the ORC Double Handed worlds,’ he says. ‘She’s owned by Justin Wolfe and Jonathan McKee who have actively campaigned the boat in various offshore double-handed races.

‘They bought the boat second-hand three years ago when she was owned by James Harayda and called Gentoo. She was pretty well specced from new with a carbon mast and a full sail wardrobe although without water ballast. But perhaps one of the most important factors for Wolf and McKee was that she had been well-sorted and de-snagged which meant she was not only good value and ready to go when they bought her, but the price they paid meant that there were no extra bills in store to get her race ready. Instead she was sorted, costed to match and ready to go.

‘This was also pretty important for them because they ran their two-year European campaign from the States so they didn’t have a great deal of time to spend on site getting the boat ready.’

All of which helped their results to follow including winning the ORC division of the 2023 Rolex Middle Sea Race along with the IRC Double Handed European Championship in 2024.

Good alternatives to the popular Jeanneau models include the JPK 1010

‘Even just looking at it from a point of view of cost, the reality is that a new Sun Fast 3300 was around £300,000 by the time it had been fully specced and launched,’ he continues. ‘A used one today could be in the region of £150,000. And there are plenty of other even more affordable alternatives that are also very competitive.

‘The Sun Fast 3600 is a good example. Current RORC Commodore Deb Fish and Rob Craigie in Bellino have been very successful in the shorthanded scene for many years. During that time, they have racked up a long list of successes culminating in winning the RORC Season’s Points Championships in 2023 and again in 2024.

‘The Sun Fast 3600 hit the ground running when it was first launched and has remained successful since. As a result, there are plenty on the market in the region of £130,000.’ And the examples go on.

Cora is a Sun Fast 3200 co-skippered by Tim Goodhew and Kelvin Matthews. Last year the pair strung together a number of wins including the Lewmar Cherbourg Race in which they won IRC 3 as well as the Double Handed class. The De Guingand Bowl was another win for them and a strong performance in the Cervantes Trophy Race contributed to winning the Season’s Points Championship in IRC 3.

Well sorted older boats like this Sun Fast 3200 are still competitive, offering an affordable way into the doublehanded offshore circuit – which has grown rapidly in recent years

‘The Sun Fast 3200 was one of the key models in the shorthanded scene and is another example that continues to be both competitive and affordable,’ says Colley. ‘The 3200s are in the region of £70-80,000 for a well sorted boat.’

‘But it doesn’t stop there, it’s certainly possible to get a competitive racer, whether it’s for shorthanded or fully crewed for around £50,000. Shared ownership is also becoming more popular, which not only reduces the running costs to more manageable proportions, but if you have a boat of around £50,000 with say four crew and you share the cost, the individual investment is in line with what you might pay for a racing dinghy.’

While Sea Ventures’ focus for new boats in the sub-40ft racing scene has been based largely around the Jeanneau range and the recent Farr X2, Colley is quick to acknowledge that boats from other manufacturers such as JPK and J Boats are viable options.

As a competitor himself he is perfectly placed to understand how other designs and marques compare on the racecourse. And with Sea Ventures’ race brokerage business they are fully up to speed with the commercial comparisons too.

Many boats built in the last decade lend themselves well to modern sail wardrobes

‘It’s always been the case that some boats will be better-suited to various extremes of different rules and while this is a consideration for some of our owners who have a specific series or event in mind, the majority of our customers will be looking for versatility. Currently there’s a fair bit of discussion and indeed competition between various rules, IRC and ORC in particular and no one wants to be caught out with a boat that is a one-trick pony. So, versatility is the key both in the rules that boats can be competitive under and the ability to sail shorthanded or fully crewed, inshore and offshore.

‘On that subject, the definition of fully crewed has been changing gradually too over recent seasons. Today it’s far more common than it has been in previous seasons for a 30-footer to be sailed with just four and we see that trend moving across into bigger boats too.

‘It’s understandable that the big boats get the glory, after all they’re the ones that frequently take line honours. But if you look at the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s results over the last couple of years as examples, the winners on handicap are frequently much smaller boats,’ he says. ‘In fact, it’s not uncommon to find double handers at the top of the results on corrected time. As we know, this is also an area that has seen huge growth in recent years. But there are some simple facts that tend to get lost in the noise and excitement of the bright lights.

‘Modern yacht design has played a big part in making this possible, but so too has sailplan development. Soft sails are increasingly being replaced by furling sails on cables, code zeros and the likes which is not only a step up in performance in many cases, but makes sail handling much easier.

‘And this all has a part to play when it comes to looking for a second-hand boat. The good news right now is that the recent decade of design trends has produced boats that lend themselves well to modern sail wardrobes. Couple that with a UK and European used market that has plenty of choice and the route through to competitive inshore and offshore racing in affordable, well-mannered, exciting boats has never been more accessible.’

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